A Royal Affair love triangle sets Denmark on a new course

A pretty young queen writes a letter to her children asking for their understanding and forgiveness, then recounts the events that lead to her exile.

So begins Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s quietly magnificent “A Royal Affair.” And what a piece of work is this historical drama set in the late 1700s when Denmark was proving resistent to the ideas and lessons of the burgeoning Enlightenment.

The film recounts the tangled relationship of King Christian VII, his queen, Caroline Mathilda, and his physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee. It was a love triangle that set Denmark on a political and cultural course that would loosen the vise grip of religious figures and nobles.

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Denmark is championing “A Royal Affair” as its entry for the best foreign-language Oscar. For good reason. Not only are Mads Mikkelson as the good doctor, Alicia Vikander as Caroline and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard as the mentally troubled monarch profoundly sympathetic, “A Royal Affair” unfolds with a commanding yet subtle rhythm at once literary and utterly cinematic.

Struensee arrives to the palace in Copenhagen after being recruited by Enevold Brandt (Cyron Bjørn Melville) and Schack Carl Rantzau (Thomas W. Gabrielsson) to tend to the king. King Christian had embarked on a grand European tour when he had a breakdown in Germany.

The nobles have fallen out of favor with dowager queen Juliane Marie (Trine Dyrholm) and hope to return to court with the help of the physician, who is a German. He is also a pamphleteer, writing anonymously about the Enlightenment. Christian and Struensee find kinship over Shakespeare and “Hamlet.”

Though he behaves immaturely, King Christian VII isn’t merely petulant and moody. He exhibits signs of mental illness. It’s something those around him — from his stepmother to members of the ruling council — exploit.

For a time, Struensee’s presence is palliative. Though he can still be erratic, Christian’s confidence builds. The doctor’s role in governing grows.

The filmmaker does not rush the love affair of the title. It takes time for Caroline to trust the doctor. During a smallpox epidemic, Struensee takes the bold step of inoculating Caroline and Christian’s infant son, Frederick.

A poignant tableaux finds the three sitting awaiting news of the baby’s reaction. Christian sits beside Caroline, her hand in his. When Struensee sits on the other side of him, Christian takes his hand.

“A Royal Affair” makes a case for the threesome’s complicated and at times touching connection, one that tracks through much of the film.

Mikkelson and Vikander simmer as the lovers who initially bond over books, ideals and the possibility of human transformation. Yet as soon as they surrender to passion, the movie is set on a course of tragedy. What starts out as admirable idealism gives way to political overreaching.

“A Royal Affair” invites comparisons with another costume drama onscreen currently, “Anna Karenina.” Not just because Vikander portrays Anna’s niece by marriage.

While that lovely bauble forfeits much of Tolstoy’s substance, “A Royal Affair” speaks eloquently to our time from across the centuries. And it’s steamier.